SEATTLE (AP) — The Boston Red Sox have added a much-needed starter after an earlier trade fell through, acquiring oft-injured left-hander Erik Bedard from the Seattle Mariners in a three-team trade at the deadline Sunday.

The Red Sox, whose deal for Oakland’s Rich Harden fell apart late Saturday night, also got right-hander Josh Fields, a 2008 first-round draft pick.

“He was real tough on us,” Boston manager Terry Francona said of Bedard, who started his major league career with the Baltimore Orioles.

“He’s a guy who has shown he can pitch in the American League East. First half of the year before he tweaked that knee he was pretty solid,” Francona said. “His stuff was good. We’re excited.”

Francona said he would talk to Bedard before lining up his rotation for the coming week.

“I know that (general manager) Theo (Epstein) talked to him and he sounded like he was excited. We’ll kind of build him back up,” Francona said. “He just came off the DL Friday. We’ll build him back up and get him in there.”

Boston sent catcher Tim Federowicz and right-handers Juan Rodriguez and Stephen Fife to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who dealt OF Trayvon Robinson to the Red Sox.

The Red Sox then sent Robinson and OF Chih-Hsien Chiang to Seattle.

Bedard, who is 4-7 in 16 starts with a 3.45 ERA this season for the Mariners, wasn’t so good against an AL East team on Friday when he faced Tampa.

He showed the effects of his 32-day layoff after going on DL with a sprained left knee. He threw 57 pitches in just 1 1-3 innings and was tagged for five runs and three hits, walking four and striking out two.

AL East-leading Boston was in need of a starter to help shore up its rotation with Daisuke Matsuzaka out for the season and Clay Buchholz on the disabled list.

“We talked with a few other clubs but in the end we thought this was the one that made sense,” Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik said.

The Mariners sent Baltimore five players for Bedard before the 2008 season but he has been a bust because of injuries.

Bedard was 15-14 with a 3.31 ERA in 46 appearances with the Mariners. He missed most of the 2009 season and all of 2010 after left shoulder surgery. He was 4-7 with a 3.65 ERA in 16 starts this season but spent most of July on the disabled list (knee).

He was 40-34 in five seasons with the Orioles, going 15-11 with a 3.76 ERA in 2006 and 13-5 with a 3.16 ERA the following season.

Fields, 25, the 20th player taken in the 2008 draft out of Georgia, was 2-1 with a 2.77 ERA for Double-A Jackson and 0-0 with a 6.23 ERA in nine games for Triple-A Tacoma.

“We’ve been talking Chiang for a while. Robinson came in a couple hours (before the deadline) as we discussed it,” Zduriencik said. “He was the guy we settled on.”

The Mariners have been struggling offensively — the Mariners designated Jack Cust for assignment Friday — and both 23-year-old prospects have power potential.

Robinson is hitting .293 with 26 home runs and 71 RBI for Triple-A Albuquerque.

“He’ll go to Tacoma and we’ll watch him there,” said Zduriencik, when asked if Robinson was close to a promotion. “We’ll see what happens.”

Chiang is hitting .338 with 36 doubles, 18 home runs and 76 RBI in 87 games for Double-A Portland.

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Baseball fans reach for an autograph from Boston Red Sox centre fielder Jacoby Ellsbury as he leaves the field following a 4-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday, in Baltimore. (Nick Wass/Associated Press)

Red Sox 4, Orioles 0

BALTIMORE —Jacoby Ellsbury hit two solo homers, Andrew Miller and three relievers combined on a two-hitter, and the Boston Red Sox defeated the Baltimore Orioles 4-0 Wednesday.

Adrian Gonzalez had four hits for the Red Sox, who took two of three from Baltimore to conclude their sixth consecutive winning road trip.

Ellsbury’s homers put the Red Sox up 1-0 in the third inning and 3-0 in the seventh. Both drives came off Jake Arrieta (9-7), who has yielded a team-high 19 long balls in 20 starts.

Ellsbury’s only other two-homer game was on April 22, 2008, against the Los Angeles Angels.

Miller (4-1) allowed two hits over 5 2-3 innings in a wild but effective performance. The 6-foot-7 lefty issued a career-high six walks and had only one perfect inning.

Twins 7, Indians 5

MINNEAPOLIS — Danny Valencia singled home the go-ahead run for the second straight day, this time in the eighth inning, and Minnesota salvaged a split in the four-game series with the AL Central leaders.

Matt Capps (3-5) earned the win in relief of Nick Blackburn, who gave up four runs — one earned — in six innings. Joe Nathan gave up a solo homer to Lonnie Chisenhall, but earned his sixth save.

Valencia, who won Tuesday night’s game with an RBI single in the ninth, lined a ball to right, which just eluded second baseman Orlando Cabrera and scored Alexi Casilla to make it 5-4. Tsuyoshi Nishioka added a two-run single.

Tony Sipp (4-2) allowed three runs in relief.

Yankees 4, Rays 0

ST. PETERSBURG —Curtis Granderson backed a solid pitching performance by Freddy Garcia with a two-run homer, leading the New York Yankees to a 4-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday night.

Garcia (8-7) scattered eight hits, struck out seven and walked none over 6 2-3 innings. The right-hander worked out of tight spots with runners in scoring position four times and reliever Boone Logan bailed him out of a fifth.

Granderson homered off David Price (9-8) in the first inning. David Robertson pitched a 1-2-3 eighth for the Yankees, and Mariano Rivera added a perfect ninth in a non-save situation to finish the combined shutout.

Athletics 7, Tigers 5

DETROIT — Hideki Matsui hit his 500th professional homer and drove in three runs to lead the Oakland Athletics over the Detroit Tigers 7-5 Wednesday night.

Matsui led off the sixth inning with his milestone homer – 168 in the majors and 332 for the Yomiuri Giants – to put Oakland up 3-2 and end Duane Below’s night. Below, making his major-league debut, allowed three runs – one earned – in five-plus innings.

Fellow rookie Lester Oliveros finished the inning, and Detroit took the lead with three runs in the bottom of the sixth.

Magglio Ordonez and Miguel Cabrera led off with singles off McCarthy, and Victor Martinez followed with a two-run double off reliever Joey Devine (1-1).

Tigers reliever David Purcey (1-2), though, walked the first three batters of the seventh before giving way to Joaquin Benoit.

Royals 2, White Sox 1

KANSAS CITY — Sergio Santos threw a wild pitch in the 11th inning that allowed Alex Gordon to score, giving the Kansas City Royals a 2-1 victory Wednesday night over the Chicago White Sox.

Billy Butler swung at a pitch in the dirt that got away from catcher A.J. Pierzynski and Gordon came home and scored with a headfirst slide to give the Royals their 10th win in the final at-bat.

Chris Sale (2-1) retired the first two batters before walking Gordon, who went to third on Mitch Maier’s single. Santos then replaced Sale.

Aaron Crow (3-2) worked two scoreless innings, allowing one hit, to pick up the victory.

Rangers 9, Angels 8

ANAHEIM — Howie Kendrick had three hits and four RBIs, including a tiebreaking two-run single, and the Los Angeles Angels snapped the Texas Rangers’ 12-game winning streak with a come-from-behind 9-8 victory Wednesday night.

The Angels trail the defending AL champion Rangers by four games in the West after losing Friday night’s series opener 7-0.

Torii Hunter homered for the Angels, whose six-run rally in the sixth inning wouldn’t have been possible had it not been for two infield singles to shortstop by Mike Trout and Alberto Callaspo on close plays.

Rangers left-hander Derek Holland, coming off consecutive shutouts against Oakland and Seattle, took an 8-3 lead into the sixth before giving up hits to four of the five batters he faced.

BALTIMORE (AP)—There have been times this season when Jeremy Guthrie(notes)
pitched well and didn’t get much support. There have also been occasions when he
was admittedly lousy.

So when Guthrie handcuffed the Boston Red Sox and received ample offensive
backing from his Baltimore Orioles teammates in a 6-2 victory Tuesday night, the
losingest pitcher in the majors was delighted with the rare sequence of events.

Guthrie allowed two runs in seven innings, and the Orioles got successive
eighth-inning home runs from Derrek Lee(notes) and Mark Reynolds(notes) in ending a seven-game
losing streak against the Red Sox.

“Good game there. The late runs were huge for us and we played great
defense,” Guthrie said. “This is a win that makes me feel really good, and I
think the team feels good about it.”

Guthrie (4-13) came in with the sixth-lowest run support in the AL, but he
also gave up 12 runs over 10 innings in his prior two starts. In this one,
Baltimore went ahead 3-0 after three innings and the right-hander made the lead
stand up.

It was Guthrie’s second win in 11 starts, but the drought appeared even
longer to some.

“It seemed like he didn’t have a win since ’07,” Orioles center fielder
Adam Jones(notes) said. “That’s what it feels like. We got him an early lead and he
was able to settle down, get comfortable.”

Guthrie gave up eight hits, struck out four and walked one. He had lost
seven straight decisions against Boston since May 13, 2008.

Jim Johnson(notes) worked two innings for his first save. Orioles closer Kevin
Gregg(notes) was unavailable because he was serving a three-game suspension for his
involvement in a bench-clearing melee at Fenway Park on July 8.

During its seven-game skid against the Red Sox, Baltimore was outscored
61-32, so this victory was particularly enjoyable.

“We needed a win against them. They’ve been wearing us out,” Lee said.
“Jeremy gave us just what we needed, a great pitching performance. He went
deep. It’s nice when you can hand the ball over to J.J. with a lead. You’re
feeling pretty confident at that point.”

The Red Sox lost for only the third time in 16 games despite getting a home
run from Jarrod Saltalamacchia(notes), his second in two nights. Josh Reddick(notes) had three
hits and scored a run.

Boston’s Dustin Pedroia(notes) beat out a grounder in the first inning to extend
his hitting streak to 17 games, tying a career high set in 2008. He has also
reached base in 29 consecutive games, which also matches his career-best run.

After lasting only four innings against Baltimore on July 10 in his major
league debut, Kyle Weiland(notes) (0-1) displayed far more poise in the encore. The
right-hander allowed three runs and six hits in six innings.

“I did a better job of controlling my emotions, and the adrenaline,”
Weiland said. “I got a lot quicker to that comfort zone that I was talking
about last time.”

It was an outing similar to many by Guthrie this season.

“He pitched well,” Reddick said, referring to Weiland. “Unfortunately, we
didn’t give him the run support that anybody would want. But he battled his tail
off.”

Guthrie faced a lineup without Boston’s leading home run hitter, David
Ortiz(notes), who is also serving a three-game suspension stemming from the fight in
the previous series between the teams.

The game drew a crowd of 32,314, many of whom were cheering for the Red Sox.
It’s a common occurrence at Camden Yards when Boston comes to town, although
Orioles manager Buck Showalter wasn’t complaining.

“Well, we had a lot of Red Sox people here last night,” he said before the
game. “We’ll take their admission and put it towards keeping our players. Thank
you very much.”

Baltimore went up 2-0 in the second inning when Jones and Matt Wieters(notes)
singled, Reynolds hit an RBI double and Nolan Reimold(notes) followed with a
run-scoring grounder.

Weiland retired the first two batters in the third before Nick Markakis(notes) drew
a walk, Jones singled and Wieters bounced an RBI single off the glove of first
baseman Adrian Gonzalez(notes).

Saltalamacchia made it 3-2 in the fifth with a drive over the right-field
scoreboard after Reddick hit a leadoff double. Boston then put runners on the
corners with two outs before Pedroia grounded out.

The Red Sox didn’t get another runner past first base the rest of the way.

Lee hit a two-run shot and Reynolds added his 21st homer of the season in
the eighth. Both drives came off Alfredo Aceves(notes).

NOTES: Boston’s Jacoby Ellsbury(notes) hit into a DP for only the sixth time in 383
at-bats. … Markakis’ 11-game hitting streak ended. … It was only the fourth
win in 19 games for the last-place Orioles. … Reynolds broke out of a 5-for-39
skid with three hits.

(Sports Network) – Andrew Miller tries to bounce back from his worst outing
of the season this evening when the Boston Red Sox wrap up a three-game set
with the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards.

Miller had been terrific for Boston through his first four appearances, but
was roughed up by the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday in his first start out of the
break, as he allowed seven runs, five hits and walked five batters in just 2
2/3 innings.

“I just fell behind in some counts and a lot of deep counts, a lot of 3-2
counts,” said Miller, who fell to 3-1 on the year and saw his earned run
average swell more than two runs to 5.68. “I have to do a better job of
attacking the zone instead of trying to hit the corners the whole time. I felt
good coming in. I just went out there and didn’t do a very good job.”

Although Miller recorded just eight outs, he labored through 85 pitches and
failed to register a strikeout for the second straight start.

“The walks really hurt,” said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. “The strike-to-
ball ratio, I don’t think was horrible, but when he threw his balls, they were
all bunched together. It was just a tough way to pitch. His pitch count was so
high. It was kind of obvious that something was not going right.”

Miller had beaten the Orioles in his previous outing, surrendering three runs
and six hits in five innings. He is 1-0 in two starts against them with a 3.00
ERA.

While the sample size isn’t much for most of the Orioles, Mark Reynolds is one
player who has given Miller fits, going 4-for-7 against him three RBI.

Miller should have plenty of support behind him, as heading into action on
Tuesday, the Red Sox had plated 63 runs over their last eight games, while
swatting 20 home runs in that same span. Their 64 home runs on the road this
season are also a major league-high

The Red Sox, whose 12-2 mark in July is tied with Texas for the best in
baseball, also lead the league during the month in runs (98), runs per game
(7.00), RBI (94), homers (26), walks (71) and OBP (.374), and rank second in
doubles (tied, 34), triples (tied, 4), SLG (.519), OPS (.893), extra-base hits
(64) and total bases (262).

Baltimore witnessed first hand just how potent the Red Sox can be on Monday
when the team erupted for 15 runs, eight of which came in the eighth inning.

Hoping to slow down that attack on Wednesday for the Orioles will be right-
hander Jake Arrieta, who is 9-6 on the year, but has been awful of late.
Arrieta was roughed up on Friday by Cleveland to the tune of five runs and
eight hits in five innings, but escaped with a no-decision.

In losing three of his last four decisions, Arrieta has pitched to a 6.92 ERA.

“Each time I go out I’m trying to win a game for the team, and not being able
to do that in my last three or four starts, it is not a good feeling,” Arrieta
said. “Pile that on top of the way that things have been going overall
collectively as a team, it doesn’t feel great.”

Arrieta absorbed the loss against Miller and the Red Sox on July 7, allowing
five runs (four earned) and six hits in 4 1/3 frames. He is 0-1 lifetime
versus Boston with a 6.75 ERA in two starts.

While Baltimore may be struggling, it can’t fault Nick Markakis of late.
Heading into action on Tuesday he had hit safely in 11 straight and 32 of his
last 34 games.

Boston will once again be without slugger David Ortiz and Baltimore will try
to get by without closer Kevin Gregg, as the two sit out the final game of
their three-game suspensions on Wednesday for their part in the wild weekend
at Fenway Park before the All-Star break.

With their victory in the opener of this series, the Red Sox have now beaten
the Orioles seven straight times and have won 10 of the last 14 encounters.

The Sports Network

Updated Jul 19, 2011 12:57 AM ET

BALTIMORE (AP)

The Boston Red Sox were coming off an exhausting night. They were missing their leading home run hitter and operating with a thin bullpen.

The Red Sox casually brushed aside those obstacles and cruised to another lopsided victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

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